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Former Russian tycoon released

Barbara Miller
Sat 21 Dec 2013, 12:19 PM AEDT

The former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky is spending his first night of freedom after a decade in jail. In an unexpected move, the Russian President Vladimir Putin freed his longtime adversary. Mikhail Khodorkovsky didn't waste any time getting out of Russia, flying to Germany hours after being released.

Transcript

SIMON SANTOW: The former Russian oil tycoon, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is spending his first night of freedom after a decade in jail.

In an unexpected move, the Russian president Vladimir Putin freed his long-time adversary.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky had been serving time after being convicted of embezzlement, fraud and tax evasion.

He didn't waste any time getting out of Russia, flying into Germany hours after being released, as Europe correspondent Barbara Miller reports.

BARBARA MILLER: He was once considered Russia's wealthiest man, he and fellow oligarchs making millions out of the privatisation of state assets in the post-Soviet period.

But Mikhail Khodorkovsky didn't restrict his activities to business. His funding of opposition parties and independent media wasn't to the Kremlin's liking.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky has always claimed that the charges against him were politically motivated. And after his release from a penal colony close to the Finnish border, a statement released on his behalf stressed that his request for a pardon was not an admission of guilt.

The 50-year-old said he asked to be freed on humanitarian grounds to spend time with his sick mother.

That's not what a spokesman for president Putin, Sergey Markov, told the BBC.

SERGEY MARKOV: Khodorkovsky sent his admission that he's guilty, and his asking for amnesty from Putin secretly.

BARBARA MILLER: In his statement, Mikhail Khodorkovsky also thanked the former German foreign minister, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, for 'his personal involvement' in his fate.

It was Hans-Dietrich Genscher who met Mikhail Khodorkovsky when he touched down in Berlin; Mr Genscher said all things considered, he's doing well.

(Hans-Dietrich Genscher speaking during interview)

The former Foreign Minister told the German television station ARD that Khodorkovsky's release was an important and encouraging signal.

Critics see it and the pardon of Mikhail Khodorkovsky as an attempt to quell some of the criticism of Russia's human rights record ahead of the Winter Olympics.

Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.

(Boris Nemtsov speaking)

BORIS NEMTSOV (voiceover): I link this decision with the prospect of the boycott of the Sochi Olympic Games by the leaders of the Western world. First of all, by European leaders, but also Obama doesn't want to go, and the US vice-president also refused to go.

BARBARA MILLER: It's not clear whether Mikhail Khodorkovsky will stay in Germany, whether he'll go back into business, or indeed into politics.

Hans-Dietrich Genscher says he expects after some time with his family, Mikhail Khodorkovsky will speak publicly.